I really wanted to like Margin of Error’s second self-released effort a little more, as it mixes deathcore with a sort of electronica/industrial sort of The Berzerker sheen, but in the end, the fusing of the two elements isn’t quite as impressive as it could have been.
With a thick heavy production that has a very programmed sounding drums, and guitars that have a rather off-putting electronic fuzz and hue, Margin of Error’s sound is certainly heavy, if muted. The concept album is based inside a serial killer’s mind, so the potential is here for a striking self-released effort that should have some appeal to the Suicide Silence/Whitchapel crowd. But unimaginative bland riffs and a rather flat approach to songwriting—that relies too much on rather lifeless breakdowns—simply misses the mark.
A few lumbering breakdowns here and there are acceptable but there’s something about the industrial, almost cyber gloss, synths and tone that just doesn’t sit right with me here. It’s as if a band like Deathstars or the The Kovenant tried their hand at heavy handed hardcore or deathcore. Just listen to the title track, it’s a good example. On paper it all sounds intriguing, but sadly and somewhat simply, it just doesn’t quite work.
Though trying to be as dark and menacing as the subject matter, Margin of Error’s songs and atmosphere’s simply don’t convey the twisted psychosis of a serial killer’s mind, but more the mind of a cyborg’s circuit board. Tracks like the initially promising “We Are the End”, “Cut the Throat”, ‘Innocent Victim’ and the “End of Worth” simply come across like Hatebreed with some cybernetic elements and deathcore vocals. And that in itself may have some small appeal to a very niche crowd, but personally Margin of Error misses the margin of error by delivering an album that in theory, seems to have a very interesting concept and musical idea — but in practice, doesn’t reach the potential.
